venturing4th: Onyx Bridge

Located in the northern part (north of I-40) of Petrified Forest National Park, is an area of colorful badlands that represents more than 200-million-year-old layers and river channels turned red from oxidation of iron minerals. Erosion effects were created over the millennia by sculpting from wind and water. The northern section is also the location of the trail to the Black Forest area where one of the largest accumulations of petrified wood in the park is located, including the petrified log known as Onyx Bridge because it spans a small wash.

Most of today's hike falls within an established wilderness area, and the hike mostly cuts across open terrain rather than following an actual trail.

After turning north off I-40 to the trailhead behind Painted Desert Inn Museum, we stopped at a roadside viewpoint for this picture.

Also from the Tiponi Viewpoint.

Heading down the Wilderness Access Trail behind Painted Desert Inn Museum. The Inn was constructed by the CCC in the 1930's and is now a National Historic Landmark.

We don't do too well on open terrain and prefer an established trail. We had general directions to Onyx Bridge but we wandered about for a 1/2 hour in the Black Forest trying to find Onyx Bridge. See the fossilized tree trunks just lying about on the ground? Frederick used his phone and geo-coordinates to finally find...

Onyx Bridge!

To get to Onyx Bridge we had to find the right arroyo, follow that up to a 15-foot-high pour-off and then climb the bank to the left to find the bridge just above.

Lunch spot sitting on Onyx Bridge.

Lunch view down the arroyo.

Using the tele-photo lens from our lunch spot, we could spot the Desert Inn at the top of the ridge across the Lithodendron Wash.

Notice the petrified logs in the arroyo and...

at the base of the cliffs along the sides of the wash.

Before we started back on the Wilderness Access Trail to Painted Desert Inn Museum we noticed this historic feature from the early 1900s, an old stone bridge.